Psalm 119:125 I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies. Oh grant me understanding.' By this term is often to be understood that particular spiritual discernment which is a special power of the spiritual man; of the man who looketh not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." It is scarcely possible to describe the spiritual man more sharply or more suggestively than is done by the Apostle Paul in these sentences (2 Corinthians 4:18). By "understanding" is said to be meant "a deeper knowledge of God's Law and dispensation," but this keeps us outside, on the surface of things; and what the good man wants is inward discernment of the relativity of Divine counsels, warnings, revealings, and promises, to himself. We only understand moral things as we discern their relativity. The immediate connection of the verse may be the delay of God's judgment on the wicked. The good man often finds himself puzzled to explain God's ways with the wicked. "If our heart fail in its longing for speedy retribution, 'it is our own infirmity;' fuller conception of the mind of God would take away perplexity and impatience." I. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT AS ONE OF THE POWERS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE. The Divine life in man involves two things: 1. A quickening of the powers of the soul that have been dimmed and deadened by the service of self and sin. 2. A bestowment of fresh powers, as trusts (gifts) for the ministry to which the renewed man is called. Spiritual discernment is one of the natural powers that get quickened, freed from entanglements, and exercised. But it is a power whose vigor depends on the general culture of the spiritual life. It fades and revives with the variation of our soul-moods. So its renewal is a subject of prayer. II. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT AS THE WORK OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT. This leads us into the Christian apprehension of the matter. In the renewed man the Holy Ghost abides. He works his work of grace in us through our faculties. These and especially our spiritual discernment, he quickens into power. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: I am thy servant; give me understanding, that I may know thy testimonies.WEB: I am your servant. Give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies. |
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